Jeffrey Chin: A tribute to a dear friend and colleague

31/05/2017

We are profoundly saddened by the sudden demise of Jeffrey Chin, a member of SPD’s senior management team. Jeffrey passed away peacefully on 30 May.

Jeffrey brought with him valuable sector knowledge and a passion to better the lives of people with disabilities when he joined SPD on 6 February 2012 as Assistant Director of Rehabilitation Services. He was a bright spark who shone brightly in his role and was quickly promoted to Senior Assistant Director in July 2013, and to Deputy Director of Adult and Elderly Services in July 2015.

Supporting People with Disabilities

Jeffrey was responsible for SPD’s rehabilitation centres, therapy services, assistive technology services and the various employment programmes. Under his leadership, our pool of therapists grew and we were able to serve more persons with disabilities and community healthcare providers. He worked tirelessly to secure funding and support to help more persons with disabilities find jobs and to ensure that those who required assistive technology had easy access to it.

There has been tremendous growth for SPD in the last few years, and Jeffrey played an instrumental role in this. When TP Healthcare transited to SPD@Toa Payoh in 2014, he led the talks. When SPD joined SG Enable in setting up Tech Able in 2015, he represented us at the discussions. When SPD saw the need to help younger persons with disabilities with stroke or spinal cord injuries return to the workforce, he and his team worked hard to take Transition Programme for Employment off the ground. Jeffrey was truly an SPD ambassador who seized every opportunity to share with others the work that SPD does and opened doors to collaborations in order to further our mission.

A Passionate Learner

Jeffrey was always eager to learn. He joined the private sector in 1998 after graduating from National University of Singapore (NUS) with a Bachelor of Business Administration with Merit. He went on to take up a post graduate diploma in education at the National Technological University a few years later and became a Primary School teacher. He began his career in the social service sector when he joined the National Council of Social Service in 2007. Under the Lien Scholarship for Social Service Leaders, Jeffrey completed his Master of Tri-Sector Collaboration studies at the Singapore Management University in May last year.

A Bright Spark

"It has been my great privilege and honour to have worked with Jeffrey in the last three years. He is a caring and understanding superior, a colleague and a friend who is always there to support anyone in need. Thank you for being such a great leader and leaving positive footprints in our lives. We will miss you!" - Sharon Chen, Centre Manager, SPD@Toa Payoh.

“Jeffrey has touched the lives of many people during his time at SPD. Jeffrey was a very thoughtful, supportive and inspiring person to work with. He was always full of energy and passion serving the clients and staff of SPD. Jeffrey worked tirelessly behind the scenes to keep things moving regardless of the obstacles. He will be dearly missed as a leader, friend and brother-in-Christ,” – Kam Jin Chieh, Assistant Director, Adult and Elderly Services.

“Jeffrey was always positive and encouraging, especially when things got tough. I remember how happy he was, the last time I spoke to him, to hear that one of our clients was moving towards independence and self- expression. His enthusiasm and encouragement will be greatly missed,” – Sarah Yong, Clinical Services Manager, Specialised Assistive Technology Centre.

Jeffrey exuded positivity and never failed to see the bright side in any situation, such as when he, as our spokesperson, had to memorise media responses in Mandarin. Despite knowing he would struggle with it, he never backed down and declined. We will miss his brilliant smile, humour, unfailing optimism and kind spirit.